Vacmaster Reinvents the Wet/Dry Vac with New FLT+ Filter Tech

GREENVILLE, S.C. – May 14, 2026 – Cleva North America, a major player in the tool and appliance market, today unveiled a technology that challenges the fundamental design of wet/dry vacuums, a tool that has remained largely unchanged for decades. The company’s new FLT+™ Flat Filter Technology, debuting in the Vacmaster Professional® Beast Series™ 10-Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum, relocates the filter from the collection tank to the powerhead, a move Cleva claims will solve some of the most persistent frustrations for professionals and DIY enthusiasts alike.

A Fundamental Redesign to a Decades-Old Problem

For anyone who has used a wet/dry vacuum, the routine is familiar: the bulky cartridge filter sits inside the collection tank, eating up valuable space. Suction power inevitably fades as the tank fills with sawdust and debris, clogging the filter media. And perhaps most inconveniently, switching from cleaning up a dry mess to sucking up a liquid spill requires stopping work, opening the unit, and swapping the paper cartridge for a foam filter—a messy, time-consuming task. Forgetting this step can lead to a ruined filter and potential motor damage.

Cleva’s FLT+™ system aims to make this process obsolete. By engineering a flat filter that resides entirely within the vacuum’s powerhead, the design liberates the full volume of the collection tank for debris and liquid. According to the company, this architectural shift not only provides significantly more usable capacity compared to models with traditional internal filters but also protects the filter from the sludge at the bottom of the tank. This separation is key to maintaining consistent, long-lasting suction power, as the filter is less prone to the rapid clogging that plagues conventional designs.

Most notably, the FLT+™ system functions as a true single-filter solution. Users can transition seamlessly between vacuuming drywall dust and cleaning up a water leak without ever touching the filter. This eliminates the need for separate wet and dry filters, drastically reducing downtime on the job site and removing one of the most common and disliked maintenance chores associated with these tools.

More Than a Filter: A Fully-Featured Beast

While the FLT+™ technology is the headline innovation, Cleva has integrated it into its already respected Vacmaster Professional® Beast Series™ platform, ensuring the new 10-gallon model is more than a one-trick pony. This launch model is positioned as a premium offering, packed with features designed for demanding professional and workshop environments.

A key feature is the integrated Synchro Technology, which allows for tool-activated wireless remote activation. This enables a user to connect a power tool, like a sander or miter saw, so that the vacuum automatically turns on and off with the tool, providing instant dust collection and saving trips back and forth to the vacuum.

Maintenance, another common user pain point, is also addressed with a self-cleaning filter function designed to maintain peak performance with minimal manual intervention. This feature helps extend the life of both the filter and the powerful 6.5 Peak HP motor. To remove any guesswork, an LED Filter Display provides a clear, real-time status of the filter’s health and airflow efficiency, alerting the user when maintenance is actually needed. The system also utilizes a HEPA media filter and a high-efficiency dust bag, making it capable of capturing fine particles down to 0.3 microns, a critical feature for air quality in workshops and on renovation sites.

A Strategic Play in a Crowded Market

The launch of the FLT+™ system is a calculated move by Cleva to differentiate itself in a mature and competitive market dominated by established brands like Ridgid, DeWalt, and Craftsman. Instead of competing solely on motor power or tank size, Cleva is betting that solving core usability issues will resonate strongly with users who have simply accepted the inherent flaws of the traditional design.

Priced at $199, the new 10-gallon Vacmaster is explicitly positioned as the "Best" offering in the company’s "Good, Better, Best" product strategy. This tiered approach allows Cleva to cater to a wide range of customers while using this flagship model to showcase its engineering prowess and set a new benchmark for the premium category.

"Today's professionals and hands-on users expect tools that help them work more efficiently with fewer interruptions," said Alain Duque, President/Managing Partner of Cleva, in the company’s announcement. "FLT+ represents a fundamental rethink of the wet/dry vacuum. Instead of making incremental improvements to an existing system, we focused on solving the root problem users have dealt with for years."

This philosophy signals a strategic pivot toward user-centric innovation. By building this new technology upon the existing Beast Series™ platform, known for its robust performance, Cleva mitigates the risk of launching an entirely new product line and instead enhances a trusted name with a game-changing feature. The market's reception will be a crucial test of whether this focus on workflow and convenience can successfully disrupt the status quo and capture market share from long-entrenched competitors.

The Future of Workshop Tool Innovation?

Cleva's introduction of the FLT+™ system may represent more than just a better vacuum; it could signal a broader trend in the evolution of power tools and workshop equipment. For years, innovation in many tool categories has been characterized by incremental gains—slightly more power, longer battery life, or new ergonomic grips. The FLT+™ design, however, is an example of addressing a foundational architectural inefficiency that has been overlooked for decades.

This approach—re-examining the very blueprint of a tool to solve its most persistent problems—could inspire designers and engineers across the industry. It highlights a shift in focus from simply boosting performance metrics to fundamentally improving the user's workflow and overall experience. If the real-world performance of the Vacmaster FLT+™ lives up to its claims, it will put pressure on competitors not just to match its features, but to adopt a similar philosophy of user-centric, architectural redesign.

As professionals and serious hobbyists become less willing to tolerate inconvenient, inefficient designs, innovations that save time, reduce mess, and eliminate tedious steps are likely to become the new standard for premium tools. The success or failure of the FLT+™ technology will be closely watched as an indicator of whether the market is ready to reward this deeper level of engineering, potentially paving the way for a new generation of smarter, more intuitive workshop tools.